GIRL ON FIRE (The Eternal Flame Series)
by sakurailoveyou
Summary: Missing for almost ten years, Hinamori Momo comes back to Soul Society with no memory of who she was.
1. Chapter 1: The girl who got lost

**GIRL ON FIRE**

 **(The Eternal Flame Series)**

SUMMARY: Missing for almost ten years, Hinamori Momo returns to Soul Society with no memory of who she was.

Warning: Minor swearings. OOCness because I'm going to need it in the story. Some spelling and grammar mistakes so naahhh~~

Chapter 1:

 **Aizen (2** **nd** **person) POV**

Nine years.

Ten months.

Eleven days and three hours.

Or is it?

You think you already lost count of how many day - no, years has it been since you've last seen her. How many years has past since you were greeted with the sweetest of her smiles in your office. And now after all this time, she'll be coming back home once again. To you.

You know it's wrong to feel this kind of anticipation. She was your lieutenant - and still is. The fact is that you refuse to fill up the vacated position she left in her absence despite Yamamoto's opposition to your stubborn plead. She was your favorite puppet afterall, and still is.

" _She'll come back... I'll find her no matter what."_ you told them during a joint meeting of the squad officials even though that statement of yours brought false hope to her friends, still you believed it yourself - she'll come back and now she'll be. It was the unholiest time of the evening (or mornight, should you say?) when a messenger from the Twelfth requested your immediate presence in your squad's headquarters. They gave you the location and immediately, like a good captain, you left to save your damsel.

The first time you saw your sweet lieutenant back in Soul Society, she was found in an abandoned area in Rokungai in the process of being munched by a Hollow. Her reiatsu was faint but that did not stop the Twelfth from detecting her.

Her friends particularly Abarai, Ichimaru's lieutenant, Hitsugaya-taicho and his second-in-command - wherein Gin join in by default; reasoning out that Kira will be there, so shall he (of course you know better) - immediately shunpo-ed their way towards your barracks to volunteer for the retrieval mission.

The mission went well and _fast_. Your company encountered an army of Hollows - nothing you could not manage, as expected from a team of three captains and four lieutenants. Your missing lieutenant finally within your arm's reach - unconscious and was carried all the way to the Fourth.

You stayed at her side - like a good captain would do - so when she wakes up, it will be you whom she'll see first. Not Abarai. Not Gin's lieutenant. Not Hitsugaya or even Retsu. You and only you. The only one she should trust, depend on and live for. You'll be there right beside her as she wakes up, as she cries "Aizen-taicho..." and queitly sob as you carefully cradle her fragile body in your arms and whisper comforting words to calm her.

And it seemed like the other occupants of the room (even Hitsugaya would begrudgingly admit) are expecting the same scenario to unfold. Never mind the drama, never mind them. So long as their Hinamori awakens, everything will be fine again. All of you waited patiently for your sweet little peach to wake up, to come back after almost a decade of absence.

She could have been branded traitor the moment her existence was known; could have been in chained and manacled for mysteriously missing in action. But no, this is their Momo - their sweet, innocent Hinamori and she could not cause much of a threat to Soul Society. She is, afterall, a product of your flawless manipulation for the past century.

Tension filled the room as all of you waited for her to be conscious. You inched towards her as you run your fingers through her raven locks, slipping through your fingertips like fine silk and wondered if her hair had been that smooth before. No one stopped you from doing so. Not even Hitsugaya-taicho. They knew you mean well - that simple act of touch, whether of innocence or of malice - you still are, her beloved captain and that alone gave you every right to do so.

She stirred in her sleep because of your action and the other occupants of the room (except for Gin) flash-stepped their way towards her hospital bed, completely surrounding her as if knowing she'll awake. And she did.

But the last thing you did not expect as she opened her eyes is the scalpel in her hand and the question that had you all taken aback...

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"Who the hell are you, people?"

 **Hinamori (2** **nd** **person) POV**

First it was warmth. But it's that kind of warmth that chilled the bone sending shivers through your system. That was the first thing you felt as that touch brought you into consciousness. Sore muscles and bandaged bruised legs greeted you as you bat your eyelids adjusting yourself to the bright white light. You could feel that there were other people in the room around you and your first instinct was to grab the nearest thing to you - a scalpel.

"Who the hell are you, people?" you asked them the moment you manage to lift your upper body. The occupant of the room seemed to be more surprised by your question than your action.

Silence filled the room as if not knowing the answer your question - but the look on their faces: guilt, shocked, confused - says that they knew you, perhaps more than you know yourself. Still you don't know who the hell these people are (maybe another one of Shinji's pranks, though you can tell yourself this one's not his doing) and you are not putting down the knife without any answers.

You are not frightened, though you are not calm either. You observed your surroundings - your eyes roaming every direction of the room and the people inside it. Your eyes widened as you noticed each of them carried a zanpakuto. _**Shit**_. You instantly searched for the nearest possible exit and you found the door on the right corner and the window on the left wing of the room.

You thought of an escape plan though you easily aborted the idea as you were surrounded by seven people on your wake. It's hopeless. You may escape the room but not the place you are in. There may be guards waiting outside this room and the worst case scenario is you do not know where in the name of seven freaking hells you are.

You lower your scalpel, but not your guard. You notice each of them do not seem to know what to do.

"Hinamori...it's us" the blonde guy with a peculiar haircut said as if pleading. He looked hurt as if you already stab the scalpel to this throat. The truth is you already are freaking out. How the _fuck_ did they know your name?!

"Hinamori-kun..." the guy wearing glasses said as he attempted to get a hold of your arm and _almost_ steal the weapon from your hand.

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There.

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You lost it.

You fucking lost patience and the last thing you remembered is that you threw the knife at the man with eyeglasses and someone knocked you out cold from the back. _Damn it._

-end of chap1-

Author's Notes: Heyyaa! I'm baaack! This is my first Bleach fanfic so I'm kinda new with the characterization stuffs...so yeah bear with me.

In this fic, I want to show everyone how a change in the course of events can affect the characters, especially the heroine. Personally, I want to see Hinamori's character in a new light. I want my readers to see her as someone who can actually fight, someone who has something to fight for, not only for her captain but also (READ: especially) for herself.

I want her to be strong and at the same time, caring; cruel when time asks it, but loving. That's the Hinamori I want to portray, not the one in canon where we just wait and see who the fck is gonna come to save her, because admit it, she had potential. It's just that Tite Kubo did not give much character evolution on her part wherein she can't move on from Aizen for so many arcs (and that's just utterly, annoyingly, stupid for me.)

Now that I've ranted my part, you tell me what changes would you like to see from Hinamori and also tell me if you want me to tone down or completely remove her cursing tendencies. _Sigh._

So you know what to do with the button theree~~~

Reviews does motivate me. No flames pleassee.


	2. Chapter 2: The girl who forgot

**GIRL ON FIRE (The Eternal Flame Series)**

Author's Notes: First of all, I would like to thanks the following people for supporting the story.

For the reviews...

 **Hortensea -** _ **Errrmm thanks? The idea just sparked out of my *imagination* (insert rainbow here) so I decided to give it a shot.**_

 **T -** _ **Hello there dear guest! Can't agree with you more. I'm starting to think I should create a IchigoxMomo community to actually count how many fics are out there!**_

 **diagokpo30 -** _ **Hey there! I'm glad you like the story. Yes. There's going to be a lot of changes now Peachy is no longer Aizen's little toy. So yeah, keep in touch. :)**_

For the follows... ( _ **CzarAndrew, Hortensea, darth73,**_ **diagokpo30** _and_ _ **hardoraku**_ )

For the favs... ( _ **trinalove, darth73,**_ **diagokpo30** _and_ _ **hardoraku**_ )

You have no idea how these motivated me to continue this. I am a graduating student so I don't actually think that I would have all the luxury of time to continue this once I graduated but I would like to keep this going. Again, really, thank you for the love!

 **SUMMARY: Missing for almost ten years, Hinamori Momo returns to Soul Society with no memory of who she was.**

 **Chapter 2: The Girl who forgot**

" _What's wrong?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _I said what's wrong? You've been spacing out this whole time."_

" _Am I?"_

" _Obviously."_

" _A-ano... I was thinking about the-"_

" _Momo."_

" _What?"_

" _Psh. Three years and still a terrible liar."_

" _Am not!"_

" _You are."_

" _Am not!"_

 _There it was again. That look on her eyes as if she is going somewhere far - away from him, his grasp, his world. He knew of course, as told by Urahara, that she is not from his world and it's just a matter of time until fate decides to claim what is rightfully hers. He already lost his mother - he'd been through that. Losing his lover - the second loss - he would not permit it._

" _Tell me." he said as he wrapped his arm to her for comfort as she welcomed his warmth surrounding hers, both of them in bare skin. She took a deep sigh before beginning and Ichigo instantly knew that this is something he does not want to hear about._

" _What if my memories come back?" she asked in a low voice as if she's scared. She tightened her grip to his arms as if he were her lifeline, as if he would vanish anytime she loosens her grasp._

" _Have they?"_

" _No... But what if they come back?"_

" _So what then?"_

 _With the tone of his voice, Hinamori knew he was getting annoyed with her questions. The ever present scowl on his face only made it clear she would not win this argument with him, no matter how hard she try to prove her point. She pulled her gaze away from the strawberry blonde as if shielding herself from the shame of seeing her insecurities laid in front of her lover._

" _Don't ever think that who you were before_ _ **us**_ _will make me love you any less._ _" he said, as he lifted her chin with his thumb as hazel met gold._

" _What if I don't belong to your world?" she asked, her eyes glossy from the tears threatening to fall down her hazel orbs._

" _Silly." he chuckled at her._

 _He wonder how could she ever ask that to herself. How could she be so vain if entirety, she is actually_ _ **perfect.**_

" _What are you talking about? You are my world." he answered as he pulled her towards him._

 _Before the she could even utter a word, the strawberry blonde assaulted her mouth with his._

 **Renji (2** **nd** **Person) POV**

"You don't look surprised." you said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world - because at the moment it is. The truth is you have not seen _this_ coming but you tell yourself that you should have, because if she was missing for almost a decade _and_ alive, what other reason could she have for not immediately returning to Soul Society?

At first you were hesitant. There were more suitable candidates to tell her who she was...of course one of them was you. Still... how do you explain a hundred years of lost memories? Eventually, after all the mental debates, you volunteered (before anyone else does) to explain to her everything because everyone seems to be overwhelmed by the discovery. You were one of the reasons why she went MIA, anyway.

Kira could have done it but you bet he ain't gonna last a minute without stuttering or breaking down in front of Hinamori. That won't do. Matsumoto could have done it too, but she's too loud for her own good and her explanation might include unnecessary side stories. Hitsugaya-taicho...well, he ain't much of a talker. And Aizen-taicho he was... How could he put it into words...shocked? Overwhelmed? How could you not if the first thing you got from your lieutenant who went missing for almost ten years is a makeshift weapon aimed at your face? That was when you knocked her out cold. You panicked, dammit.

Unohana-taicho said that it might have been a defense mechanism - that Hinamori must have lived rogue in the past decade, basically trusting on her instincts when the rest of the senses are unconscious. Before the amnesiac girl manage to awake in her slumber, you asked everyone (albeit hesitantly) to leave the room to give both of you the privacy you needed. Hinamori liked privacy and peaceful atmosphere. Perhaps this could help her ease compared to the crowded space they had awhile ago.

"Well, it does not seem like you're lying." she answered as she looked at you with those always curious, big hazel eyes.

"Hinamori, why would I lie to you?" you asked her back.

"I don't know." she said, her eyes looking away from you. The room was once again filled with awkward silence. It was as if you two were total strangers from the world. As if the two of you have not been classmates. Have not been friends. _Almost_ have been - **No.** Now is not the perfect time to remind her.How could you blame her for not remembering?

As if to save you from bursting out in front of the amnesiac girl, a tall figure clad in glassses and white haori emerged from the shadows and you immediately pay your respects.

"Aizen-taicho!" you said as you kneel before him.

"Rise. You know there is no need for such formalities, Abarai-kun." he told you although his eyes were fixed at the girl in the bed. She herself is observing the scene before her and judging from the look from her eyes, it seemed like she was also looking at him - a manner which is inappropriate because a lieutenant must never look his captain directly in the eye unless permitted. You tell yourself that this is alright because they already shared centuries together and who knew what things have they done on closed doors?

Then there still is hesitation. She cannot remember anything _or anyone_ \- though she had not been striped of her title. The captain seemed noticed your uneasiness and smiled at you in reassurance. You suddenly felt another presence in the room. It is there, familiar although not intruding.

"I believe that is your cue to leave."the captain said politely.

It was then the messenger from your squad came in and announced, "Abarai-fukutaicho, you are ordered to report your mission to Kutchiki-taicho. Your presence is being requested at this moment." With that you spare one last glance at Hinamori and left her with the man you knew she once entrusted her life before.

 **Meanwhile in the World of Living...**

 _ **OPENING MESSAGES**_

 _CONVERSATIONS:_

 _I'll be coming home after the tour. Can't wait to see you!_

Received: Three days ago at 03:24pm

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 _I told Yuzu you're coming. She's already shopping for dinner._

Sent: Three days ago at 03:25pm

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 _Ehhh? You spoil sport! It's supposed to be a surprise! (insert pouting face here)_

Received: Three days ago at 03:26pm

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 _Really? Too bad. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Btw, dad's asking you to stay the night._

Sent: Three days ago at 03:27pm

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 _You evil~ You planned for this, didn't you? :) As if I could refuse 'dad'. ;) I'll stay, of course._

Received: Three days ago at 03:28pm

 _._

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 _Really? In 'our' room? (blink, blink)_

Sent: Three days ago at 03:29pm

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 _I dunno whut r u talkin' about :P_

Received: Three days ago at 03:30pm

 _._

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 _Pshh. Have a safe flight, peachy._

Sent: Three days ago at 03:31pm

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 _Ah. Love you too, strawberry-kun. :*_

 _PS. I told you to stop calling me_ _ **that.**_

Received: Three days ago at 03:32pm

 _Where are you?_

Sent: Three days ago at 07:45pm

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 _I'm sorry, I don't think I can make it._

Received: Three days ago at 07:56pm

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 _What happened? Is everything alright there?_

Sent: Three days ago at 07:56pm

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 _Why are you not picking up?_

Sent: Three days ago at 08:05pm

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 _Momo, I'm starting to get worried. Stay safe, okay?_

Sent: Three days ago at 08:06pm

 _-end of conversation-_

"Kurosaki, for the last time I will give you a warning. _**Off with the phone.**_ " the teacher said as she tapped her annoyed fingers in her desk.

"Hai. Gomenasai, sensei." you apologized as you keep your phone in your pocket. You continued to pretend to listen to the lesson but your mind drifted somewhere afar, of some place she could be.

It had been three days. No messages. No replies. No calls. Why isn't she picking up?

As the teacher turned to face the board to scribble the lecture, once again you fished the phone out of your pocket and typed... _It's been three days. Where have you__

"Ichigo, INCOMING!" whispered Keigo on your side and in an instant your phone was back from where it was before the teacher turned once again to face the class.

"Phew... That was a close one. You owe me, Ichigo!" Keigo whispered to you.

"Ah. Arigatou." you answered as your mind once again drifted somewhere afar. Even Chad and Orihime seems to be worried about you since but you told them you'll be okay, that you'll manage.

Maybe you could ask Shinji of where she could be after class? Afterall, she always visits that man every time she comes home from Tokyo. Yes, that could work but first you'll have to go to her apartment to feed her cat - the black one that does not eat cat food.

"She has not visited here since we caught the two of you making up in Hiyori's room." said that blonde guy in peculiar haircut said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Is that so?" you asked as if you were a lost kid finding his way home.

"Ahh... You love sick puppies..." Shinji muttered under his breath. You met him sometime after Momo officially became your girlfriend. And by 'official', that meant she introduced to you probably the weirdest people you met in your existence - her _friends._ Or family, she chose to call them, since she doesn't have any or anything that she remembered.

You know you should not worry this much. She could take care of herself, that's a fact but still, she is a girl - your girlfriend to be specific. Meaning, you have every right and reason to be worried for her well-being. You arrived at your home and was greeted by a dramatic welcome from your ever enthusiastic father and the bipolar, fraternal twins. You noticed that Yuzu was talking to someone over the phone, while Karin kept her self busy in the living room.

"Ichigo, you have a visitor upstairs."

"Telll that person I don't want visitors now."

"Are you sure?"

" _Yuzu-chan? Is that him?"_ a voice emerged from the phone the said girl was holding. This immediately captured your attention as you halted your steps to the stairs and stared at your sister from disbelief.

"C-chotto..is that-?" you asked, not knowing which word should come out next.

"Why don't you see for yourself, nii-chan?" Yuzu smiled as your heart raced in anticipation.

With that, you sprinted your way upstairs and bolted the door of your bedroom, expecting a hazel-eyed girl sitting on her favorite spot in your bed where she would be waiting for you... But instead, what you saw was the similar raven locks as hers though her eyes instead of hazel were steel violet.

"Yo. Ichigo." she greeted you in her usual cool facade.

"Ah. Rukia." you greeted her back.

It immediately dawned to you that there is something _really wrong._ The said girl stood in your room, clad in her full-shinigami glory and these times you knew something _crazy shit_ is about to happen. Your eyes gave a disapproving look at her and at the same time, you pulled out the gigai in your cabinet and plunged it into your body.

 **Up next:**

" _Five years. That long you've known who I really am. Why have you not said anything, Byakuya-sama?" she asked, her voice mixed with betrayal and accusation._

" _If I told you then, would you leave the Human World right away?" you asked her back. You noticed her eyes drifted away from you - a habit she does when she does not want to answer a personal question or when she simply does not know what to answer. Of course, you knew. She won't._

 _Author's Notes: And there you have it! It's quite longer than the first chapter since this took two weeks to be completed so... Tell me what you think about it in the Review box over there.. (insert happy face here)_


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